Broken Buildings and Broken Extremities
by emrys-knight
Summary: Karen finds a bomb on her scans and Peter is trapped in the explosion, having to hold the building up to keep it from collapsing from those inside. In all of it, he is mentally and emotionally brought back to the night in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) where he was trapped under the building when fighting Toomes. WARNING: DO NOT READ IF PANIC ATTACKS ARE A TRIGGER FOR YOU!


Peter ran as fast as he could across the sides of the skyscrapers, jumping out and slinging webs trying to get to the site as soon as possible.

"The temperature of the explosives are increasing rapidly, Peter. The civilians don't have much time." Karen informed him.

"I'm going as fast as I can! Did you call Mr. Stark," Peter dropped in front of the building.

"Yes. I did. And every other hero in New York City."

"Am I getting help," Peter ran into the building, ushering people out under this explosive threat. "Come on, everybody out!"

"The Defenders, Mr. Stark and Mr. Barnes are all on their way."

"Sounds great. I was starting to-" The explosion sent Peter flying back, hitting his back against the far wall. He ran up to the crumbling piece of structure, noticing the hole making the material give out. He climbed up under it, taking on the weight of the building. Luckily, it was a parking garage and the civilians who lived and were not injured were able to escape through the large hole where cars typically go through. "Hurry up, everybody!" He could hear the injured people inside moaning and groaning in pain. His heart broke at the fact that if he tried to help, the building would collapse on them. He settled for bothering Karen once more. "What's the ETA on backup?"

"Mr. Stark and Mr. Barnes should be arriving right now. The Defenders are an estimated five minutes away."

"I don't see-" Before Peter could finish his sentence, Tony landed in front of him in the sleek Iron Man suit, letting go of Bucky's arm. "M-Mr. Stark." He spoke through gritted teeth. The building made a large cracking sound, dropping even heavier on Peter's body. He held his own, though, arms barely shaking.

"Let me take over, Pete. I can use my thrusters-"

"No! I did the math, Mr. Stark. The building can't handle the transfer. I want to, so bad, but I can't," The eyes on Peter's mask somehow looked sympathetic with his father figure. He knew Tony felt awful for what Peter had to do. "J-just get everyone out."

Tony looked over at the injured people in the garage, sprinting towards them. Bucky followed close behind. The two picked up who they could, bringing them out into the open to the awaiting ambulances and paramedic trucks. "There's too many. Put whoever's left on fire trucks."

The Defenders arrived on the scene shortly after, taking in what almost all of them were seeing. The building cracked, once more, making Peter cry out, knees nearly buckling at the weight. He kept his legs slightly bent while his arms shook. Matt heard all of it, running over to the structure. He placed a hand above Peter, feeling all of it.

"This doesn't have much time left." Matt kept his glove off, pressing his palm against Peter's chest, making the teen tilt his head in confusion. He held the placement for a moment before breaking contact and putting his glove back on. He walked over to Tony and Bucky who were helping patch people up. Danny, Luke, and Jessica helped evacuate the people still inside the garage. "Spider-Man doesn't have much time left," Matt whispered.

"What?!" Peter's voice was heard across the street.

"What did I say about super-hearing eavesdropping, Spider-Man?!" Tony's head snapped back to the teenager. He was only joking, as he knew Peter was scared.

"Sorry," Matt said, flatly. "Statement stands, though. We've gotta work faster to get these people and the bodies out or else he's gonna give out." The two Avengers along with the Defenders rushed to get every living and once living thing out of the area, some carrying three and four people at a time.

"I… don't… have… m-much...left!" Peter's arms shook violently under the weight, his knees buckling as well.

Matt heard this rapid huffing sound and turned to look at Peter who was hyperventilating, making his whole body shake. He was crouched on the surface he stood on, squeezing his eyes shut, nearly letting the building collapse on top of him, the people, and his colleagues. Daredevil tapped on Tony's shoulder then pointed to the teen. Tony handed the corpse he was carrying off to Danny and ran over to try and calm Peter down.

"Hey, kid. What's going on," Tony put a hand on the teen's shoulder.

"His heart-rate and breathing are too high. He is having a panic attack," Friday called out to Tony. The man felt for his kid. He knew exactly what that felt like but he had no idea how to calm Peter. He'd only known the kid for a while and when they had met, they'd almost immediately flown out to Germany to fight Captain America, then he didn't spend much time with him when Toomes was a problem but the time they did spend together was awful as he had to save Peter from drowning and take the suit away when he didn't listen. Tony then realized it… He brought Peter into a fight, letting the kid get close to someone he looked up to for Tony to be neglectful and mean to him.

'Geez. Peter deserves better than that.' Tony thought. He spoke up, hoping to calm Peter. "It's okay, you're gonna be alright. Jessica's carrying out the last body. You'll be able to let go."

"It's just… it's just… like that night… I fought Toomes," Peter lowered even more at the weight. Jessica was having trouble getting the body's leg out from under some rubble.

"What do you mean?" Tony leaned in closer, trying to hear Peter as his words were breathy and broken.

"I-I got… I got stuck."

"Stuck where?"

"Under a building," Peter cried out in pain. He was so weak. Jessica had to lift a piece of rubble that was part of what was holding the building, keeping it from collapsing. Once she got the corpse's leg out, she ran with it out across the street to the M.E.

"They're all out. You can do this, kid," Tony stepped back, hoping to give Peter some space. The teen screamed as he straightened his legs out, lifting the building up. He slowly got his legs into position to run. "That's it. You've got it."

"I've got it," The plan ran through Peter's head. He was going to lift it as high as he could and run straight into Tony's arms. He thought it was a good one before he started to feel the building collapse on top of him. The boulder Jessica had moved crumbled, making all of the weight transfer to Peter who decided he'd bolt last minute. He lunged forward, reaching out towards Tony before being violently pulled to the ground. He cried out, screaming in pain.

"Barnes, Jones, Cage! Get over here, now!" Tony called out. He could see it. He didn't need Friday or Karen to tell him Peter's leg was broken. His leg was being crushed by what it only moments ago supported.

Peter's cries ripped through the open air, breaking everyone's hearts. They watched as the one who kept them alive suffered under the hold of the building. All of the heroes rushed over to where the two were, taking hold of the structure.

"On three. Tony, pull him out when you can," Matt placed his palm on Peter's leg. "He needs to get to the med bay right now or he's gonna lose his leg regardless of his healing factor."

"I'll lift with them, you pull him out. My suit has the power to lift it," Tony stepped forward before Matt stopped him with a now gloved hand to the chest.

"Whose arms do you think he wants to be in when he's pulled out? Now stop arguing and get ready," Matt walked over to where Danny, Jessica, and Luke were grabbing on, ready to lift.

"Alright. One. Two. Three!" Tony called out. The Defenders lifted the building as much as they could, giving the older man the time and space to pull Peter's leg out. The sight nearly made Tony puke, but he kept his cool, knowing the kid needed it. He brought Peter up into a bridal carry, being very careful with his leg and allowing his head to rest on the iron shoulder. "Come to the compound if you can. He'll want to see you and properly meet you when he wakes up."

:::::::

"Tell me what happened," Bruce helped Tony lay Peter onto the gurney.

"He held a building up for at least an hour by himself," Tony followed Bruce and his med team down and throughout the halls.

"And his leg?"

"When we got everybody out, he tried to get out from under the part he was holding up but his leg got caught."

"Well, it's obviously broken. Daredevil called and told me it's pretty bad, internally," Bruce hooked up the IV, the gurney still in motion. "He said the kid's leg is bleeding internally."

"Shit. He told me Peter might lose the leg…"

"No, it's unlikely. You got here fast enough but…"

"But?"

"It could still have permanent problems, Tony. Even if he doesn't," They all turned a corner, leading to the OR. Bruce stopped at the double doors, allowing the nurses to bring Peter back and prep him while he talked to Tony. "The healing factor aside, he's still gonna take a while to get better. An hour holding a building up… He's weak, Tony. That could present problems we just can't fix."

Tony exhaled as much as he could, then inhaled as much as he could. "Then go. Get in there and save the kid. Fix what you can." He started to pace while Bruce nodded and quickly walked into the OR washing room to scrub up and get to work.

:::::

Tony waited for what felt like years. Hell, maybe even centuries. For that time, he contemplated what Peter had meant when they were out in the field. "The night he fought Toomes…" He rubbed a hand over his eyes. "What happened that night, Pete?"

Bruce came out of the double doors, disheveled and half covered in blood. "He's alive and in his room, sleeping. His leg is going to be in a cast for about two weeks then wrapped for about two weeks after that. Follow me." The two made their way to Peter's room.

When they opened the door, Tony took a step back at the sight of the wires swallowing the kid up and the oxygen mask that, ironically, looked like it was suffocating him.

"The mask isn't completely necessary. It's just to make breathing easier. Everything is to make things easier for him. Less work for his body to do while he's so compromised."

"He did amazing, Bruce. He's so mature for his age. He's gonna make a great hero. Hell, he already is one. Better than I was, at first."

"Stay with him. He'll want to see you when he wakes up," Bruce checked Peter's vitals and left the room, leaving only Tony and a sleeping, healing Peter inside.

::::::

The next morning, the sunrise brought in a bright light, illuminating the room. Tony remembered the goggles Peter had had for his original "suit" if you could even call it that- No. You can't. It's not a suit, dammit. "Friday, dim the lights and pull down the shades."

Friday did as she was told, dimming the lights and bringing the shades down to the floor for the tall window wall. "Is this satisfactory, Mr. Stark?"

"That's great, Friday. Thanks."

"You're welcome, Mr. Stark." Friday's voice made Peter flinch as he was slowly crawling to consciousness. Tony noticed, looking over at the small spider.

"Hey, kid," Tony inched to the edge of his seat next to Peter's bed.

"M-Mr. Stark?" Peter's voice was muffled by the oxygen mask.

"Yeah. Feeling better?"

"I… uh-a-a little."

"I'm sorry, kid. I should probably wait 'til you've been up for longer but I gotta know. What were you talking about when you were talking about the night you fought Toomes?"

Peter paused for a moment, unknowing of whether or not he wanted to even tell him. "I got-" He pulled his oxygen mask down. " I went to fight him, at first, and he blew up the building we were in and trapped me under it. I got out, obviously, I guess, to fight him on the plane and then the beach."

"So when you were holding that garage up…" The dots connected for Tony and he didn't like it.

"It felt like I was back there."

"I-wow-I'm sorry, kid."

"Sorry?" Peter quickly put the mask back on, gratefully taking in the air it provided.

"Maybe if I hadn't taken the suit away…"

"No. I needed that," His voice, again, muffled by the mask. Damn this kid's mature.

"You could have-"

"You got me out of it. You were right, Mr. Stark. If I'm nothing without the suit, then I don't deserve to have it."

"I thought I was being kind of a dick about that after it all happened."

"I mean, you were," Peter laughed. ", but it helped me beat Toomes."

"Well… Glad I could help," Tony stood when he saw The Defenders come in. "We'll chat later."

"Okay," Peter gave him the biggest smile he could.

When Tony left the room, it finally hit him. He was gonna be a dad. Peter was definitely going to be his kid. And if he was honest, he didn't regret it for a moment. In fact, he loved it.


End file.
